When I Was Little

September 27, 1993
Actress Curtis and illustrator Cornell ( Earl's Too Cool for Me ) evoke a healthy child's proud sense of self in this exuberant picture book. The narrator, a girl who prefaces almost every statement with ``When I was little,'' delightedly lists all the things she can do now that she's nursery-school age. ``When I was little, I spilled a lot,'' she explains. ``Mom said I was a handful. Now I'm helpful.'' Pictures of a cheerful baby contrast with the protagonist in her maturity, and both a sunny palette of watercolors and playful lines effectively capture the narrative's buoyant spirit. Unfortunately, the book strikes one sour note: Curtis and Cornell each slip in implicit endorsements of specific cereals and junk foods (Cap'n Crunch, Chee-tos, Animal Crackers)--gratuitous inclusions that mar an otherwise winsome, upbeat work. Ages 4-8.

October 1, 1993
Ages 3-6. In her first book, Curtis capitalizes on the notion that kids love hearing about themselves as babies and takes it one delicious step further by having a four-year-old tell on herself. In a playful first-person narrative, the sprightly young miss describes the many ways she has left babyhood behind: no more "silly hair" or wearing "floaties" in the pool, no more eating "goo and yucky stuff." In keeping with the lively text, the watercolor illustrations are a congenial, colorful scramble, with many freewheeling, double-page spreads showing the little girl as both baby and preschooler. Despite the confusion this occasionally causes, the artwork's good humor perfectly matches the jaunty air of the words and beautifully captures the narrator, naughty and nice, happy and proud. ((Reviewed Oct. 1, 1993))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1993, American Library Association.)

October 2, 1995
A ``winsome, upbeat work,'' said PW, whose collaborators ``evoke a healthy child's proud sense of self.'' Ages 4-8.

January 1, 1993
Bright and busy illustrations cover each page of this amusing picture book. The heroine, at age four, has painted toenails and fingernails, eats pizza, and goes to nursery school. Babies, on the other hand, eat 'goo,' cry a lot, and sleep in a crib. On each page, the illustrations cleverly show the differences. A dandy book for the just-before-school age.

(Copyright 1993 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)